I've been shooting film for a little over a year now, after a long hiatus. I've tried a bunch of new ( to me ) emulsions, as well as have returned to a few favorites. The one film that I haven't shot much of that I used to shoot, is Plus-X. I don't know why. I have one roll in 120 that is in the queue to be developed, and that's it. It's probably the first roll of Plus-X that I've shot in nearly 20 years.

Why haven't I shot more of this film? Who knows? We'll see what conclusion I come to after developing it.

Anybody have any love for Plus-X out there? Anything that I need to know that I've forgotten?

Jan

jmcd

06-22-2010, 16:16

Plus-X is a great film, and I have had my best results with it in Rodinal 1:50 with two inversions every 30 seconds, which is Kodak's recommended frequency of agitation. It sparkles.

FPjohn

06-22-2010, 16:38

Apx100>FP4>PlusX*and they are all great - graduation, speed and even tempered in most developers. I also use Rodinol 1:50 at 2/3 the box ISO.

yours
FPJ

*IMO

ItsReallyDarren

06-22-2010, 16:48

Plus-X / Arista Premium 100 is my favorite film. I like shooting on the wide end of the aperture and slower films let me accomplish that. I personally like to rate it at EI50. Rodinal has been my go to developer for this film but I also use Xtol when I want slightly softer grain.

jpa66

06-22-2010, 17:03

Excellent! I'll be interested to see how it compares to my current low-ISO fave Rollei Retro 80s.

rover

06-22-2010, 17:05

It is my favorite film to soup in Diafine. Rated at 320 it has wonderful tone and smoothness in Diafine.

le vrai rdu

06-22-2010, 17:06

I love plus X and rodinal :)

ItsReallyDarren

06-22-2010, 17:10

Both Plus-X at EI50 developed in Rodinal 1+100 15m agitating every 3 mins.

I'll be souping it in Rodinal 1:50. How long do those of you who use the 1:50 ratio develop it for?

jpa66

06-22-2010, 17:13

Nice tones in those shots, Darren. I imagine that the images are nice and sharp, as well.

Mcary

06-22-2010, 17:45

Been very very pleased with the results I've been getting using Arista Premium 100 processed with either Arista Premium liquid developer 1-9, following instructions on the bottle) or Ilfosol 3 1-14 following instructions on the Mass Dev chart.
That being said I'm pretty close to using up my bottle of Foma R9 (Rodinol) so I'll probable give that a try with my next few rolls.

charjohncarter

06-22-2010, 17:54

Properly exposed and developed PlusX is a great film, just like most major brand films:

Olympus 35RC, PlusX, Hc-110h, probably at EI64,

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/2492910634_bb2c00d584.jpg

Juan Valdenebro

06-22-2010, 17:55

It's a great film, from Rodinal to Pyro...

Cheers,

Juan

le vrai rdu

06-22-2010, 17:59

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3111/2362904732_0af82fd65d_o.jpg

rodinal 1+25 and plus X

I had deep blacks, nice contrast and lot o details , but still, a nice old school grain , film was 6x6 , never used it in 35 mm I think

kxl

06-22-2010, 18:35

I like Plus-X (AP 100) in Microdol-X 1+3 (while my stockpile lasts)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3559/3462961973_c1cd585b74.jpg

jmcd

06-22-2010, 18:52

For Plus-X in Rodinal 1:50 I use ei 64 to 80, with gentle inversion agitation for the first 30 seconds, then two gentle twisting inversions every 30 seconds 'til 11 minutes, at 68 degrees. This is for printing on Grade 2 in the darkroom.

je2a3

06-22-2010, 19:28

It is my favorite film to soup in Diafine. Rated at 320 it has wonderful tone and smoothness in Diafine.

I agree and cannot add more....

gotium

06-22-2010, 19:44

Yes, yes, yes. My favorite film. Love it. Love it.

Vics

06-22-2010, 19:48

Do we think AP100 is Plus-X? I thought is was of European manufacture. I love the films we used to call "medium speed" when Tri-X was fast and Panatomic-X was slow. They let me shoot my 'crons at 5.6 and 1/500 in sunlight. I think I like FP4+ the best of the lot, though I did shoot a bunch of Plus-X 15 years ago. It's just a great speed, whether 125 or 100, it just gives you lots of choices!
Vic

Freakscene

06-22-2010, 21:00

Do we think AP100 is Plus-X?

We know that Arista Premium 100 is Plus-X http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/printthread.php?&t=80826

The Arista EDU Ultra films are Foma and other European films no longer manufactured (notably Forte) were relabelled as Arista films, but not currently.

Marty

Melvin

06-22-2010, 21:24

I like Plus-x in D-76 stock, or 1:1. Although I recently tried it in 120 with Rodinal and was impressed by the sharpness and resolution. I've had good luck with it.

Kristopher

06-22-2010, 22:05

Plus-X is my medium speed film of choice. I love it in HC-110 dil. H for 10 min. for diffusion elarger. I find it to be true to its speed unlike Tmax 100 which is more a 50 iso.

I never got along with modern emulsions...

Also, it is one of the very few medium speed film that pushes well to 400 iso IMHO.

Even a super blitz exposure with a No. 5 flashbulb at close range gives an excellent negative. But only with HC-110-B will you get consistent near perfect results.

http://photoflashbulb.com/rff/walter_steding.jpg

With other developers... well, you know, it's just a crap shoot.

alfredian

06-25-2010, 19:21

Plus-X can go in several directions. For crisp, try Rodinol 1+50 x 13 mins. A bit softer, try Sprint Standard for 8.5 mins. I grew up on Plus-X in Microdol-X 1+3, which takes forever but has the longest smoothest gray scale, ever. With Mic gone, try the Ilford version. I run the camera at ASA 125, but am tempted to follow threads that suggets 80. Didn't know what had happened to Forte - gone the way of Agfa & anybody's 220-format B&W.

Freakscene

06-27-2010, 16:43

Didn't know what had happened to Forte - gone the way of Agfa & anybody's 220-format B&W.

Forte went bankrupt in 2004.

Marty

lawrence

06-28-2010, 10:14

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3286/2600665494_5a2d74e24b_b.jpg

I have posted this before but I think it gives a good impression of the quality you can get from Plus-X, particularly in the highlights. This was shot hand held with a 21mm Color-Skopar and developed in stock D76.

Monokrome

06-29-2010, 14:33

Anybody have any love for Plus-X out there? Anything that I need to know that I've forgotten?

JanI haven't used it for a long while, but it's a pleasant enough film. FP4+ is easily available where I live, which I rate at half of the box speed and develop in D76 1+3 for 10 minutes.:)

Damaso

06-29-2010, 15:33

If' you've got the light it is a fine film. I actually wish I had some here in Estonia during these crazy bright days...

filmfan

06-29-2010, 15:37

No love here, but I do like it. I develop in D76 at a little bit over recommended time for scanning. I have also pushed it to ISO 250 and ISO 400 with pretty good results.

ItsReallyDarren

06-29-2010, 16:05

Another thing I like about Plus-X is how flat it stays after drying. With Tri-X I need to squish it with some heavy books before it cooperates.

Bingley

09-09-2010, 22:20

It is my favorite film to soup in Diafine. Rated at 320 it has wonderful tone and smoothness in Diafine.

Thank you for this tip! I recently tried this and love the results! :)

One sample:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/4976172260_3bbf368d03_b.jpg

venchka

09-10-2010, 09:05

My long term, all time, favorite film dating back to my first ever hand processed film in the 60s. The demise of Plus-X sheet film was a huge loss. D-76 1:1, Rodinal 1:50 or 1:100 and Xtol 1:3. It's all good.

emraphoto

09-10-2010, 09:31

i shoot it all the time. primarily at iso 500 souped in d-76!

Spleenrippa

09-10-2010, 16:13

I just got a new bulk roll of PX. I've never shot it before, but from what I've seen it looks like the perfect Diafine-dev'd film. I'm excited!

Nokton48

09-10-2010, 16:27

The NPC is still fresh, but I really wanted the 220PXP. It's getting hard to find. Not bad for ten bucks.

i am attaching 3 images, each of them are iso 100 film pushed to 200 and developed in Microdol-x.

The first is Acros 100, I like the squidly inky black but this film can't push beyond 200, imo.

The middle is Plus-x 100, I like the "pushability" of this film, but I also find that it is chalky, aka more grainy.

The last film is expired 2006 Tmax-100.

I found Tmax and Acros 100 souped in Microdol to produce the most interesting look. Plus-X behaved more conventionally in Microdol-x.

raytoei

Ronald M

09-10-2010, 18:54

Makes beautyful prints and scans. I just bracketed development times from 6 to 7.5 min in D76 1:1 and the times that print on #2 have to much contrast to scan PERFECTLY. Tri X and T Max 100 & 400 don`t do that to me using the same test target.

Mackinaw

09-10-2010, 19:04

One of my favorite B&W films. Just shot this a few weeks back. Plus-X in Xtol with a Rolleiflex 6006.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/232404-2/Michelle003+copy.jpg

Jim B.

Nokton48

09-12-2010, 07:47

Some unusual Plus-X films in my deepfreeze:

Eastman Motion Picture 35mm Plus-X 5231, in a 400 foot roll. Bought fresh from Kodak in NYC, sadly no longer available. I believe this is the original formulation of Plus-X, as it is rated at 80 EI in daylight, 64 EI in tungsten. Absolutely lovely in use in a Leica :) There is enough here to load up approx (80) 36 exposure film cartridges.

Two 100' rolls of 70mm Plus-X, which I use in my Hasselblad A70 backs. The old Plus-X, long expired (1981!) but probably still good. Still need to get around to testing it.

70mm Plus-X Aerographic Film 2402, not that old, in a 150' roll. Good for pictorial shooting in a Hasselblad A70 back. Nice film.

Finally a 500' roll of Plus-X Aerorecon Film 3404. This is a thin based film, designed for an aerial filmback. I can load about 250 exposures into a standard Kodak 70mm film cassette, and it works well in the Hasselblad A70 film back. Tough to handle in the dark, but good 70mm film, none the less.

shadowfox

09-12-2010, 19:59

Plus-X and FP4 are my favorites for 100 ASA.

They still look like film B&W with nice grain and contrast. In 120, the grain is not apparent anymore.

I don't like modern 100 ASA which are pretty much grain free but also too "grey" for my taste.

One exception , Tmax 100 in Rodinal 1+50 is quite good!

sanmich

10-01-2010, 00:14

i shoot it all the time. primarily at iso 500 souped in d-76!

John

did you mean 500 or 50 ISO??

surfer dude

10-01-2010, 02:02

The thing I've found Plus-x does better than any other film is long exposures on medium format. Its extended mid range gives a lovely palette of silvery grey tones. I develop it for this purpose in XTOL and am very pleased with the results.